TEHRAN, July 20 (Xinhua) -- Iran's Foreign Ministry on Thursday dismissed the recent U.S. terrorism report which accuses the Islamic republic of being "sponsor of terrorism."
"The U.S. report on the global situation of terrorism is invalid and is an attempt to divert world attention from the U.S. support of and role in the expansion of terrorism," Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesman, Bahram Qasemi, said.
The report is a reflection of U.S.'s "wrong" policies to take advantage of every means to essentialize "hatred," Qasemi said according to Foreign Ministry's official website.
On Wednesday, the U.S. State Department released its annual report, saying "Iran continued to be the leading state sponsor of terrorism."
It said terrorist groups supported by Iran, most prominently the Lebanese Hezbollah, continued to threaten U.S. allies and interests even in the face of U.S.-led intensification of financial sanctions and law enforcement.
The U.S. report overlooks Iran's key role in standing up against the most dangerous kind of terrorism in the region, Qasemi said, adding that it also ignores the role the U.S. regional allies who serve as the ideological and financial sponsor of terrorism in the Middle East region.
